m e d i a / c u l t u r e / c o m m e n t a r y

Archive

Elmer Bernstein

“John Landis grew up near (Elmer) Bernstein, and befriended him through his children. Years later, he requested Bernstein do the music for NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE, over the studio’s objections. He explained to Bernstein that he thought that Bernstein’s score, playing it straight as if the comedic Delta frat characters were actual heroes, would emphasize the comedy further. The opening theme to the movie is based upon a slight inversion of a secondary theme from Brahms’s ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE. Bernstein accepted the job, and it sparked a second wave in his career, where he continued to do high-profile comedies such as THE BLUES BROTHERS, GHOSTBUSTERS, STRIPES, and AIRPLANE!, as well as most of Landis’s films for the next 15 years.”